High-speed article-turning mechanism

ABSTRACT

A series of ferromagnetic articles to be turned 90* are moved by an inclined conveyor along a linear path over a deadplate and between two turning drums having resilient peripheral surfaces shaped to conform to the curvature of the contacted surfaces of the articles being turned. One of the drums is driven at a higher speed than the other drum and has its axis of rotation disposed forwardly of a plane which is perpendicular to the linear path and has the axis of rotation of the other drum lying therein thereby providing an angular space or gap between one end of the article being turned and the next following article so that the resilient material on the high-speed drum will enter the space. The discharge edge of the deadplate is angled so as to be parallel to the partially turned articles causing both ends of each article to move off the deadplate onto the conveyor at the same time. A magnetic stabilizing conveyor is positioned to grip one end of each article as the article completes its turn.

ties te eimers [72] Inventor: James L. Reimers, San Jose, Calif.

[73] Assignee: FMlC Corporation, San Jose, Calif.

[22] Filed: Jan. 9, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 1,652

[52] US. Cl ..]l98/33 AD, 198/165 Primary Examiner-Richard E. AegerterAttorney-F. W. Anderson and C. E. Tripp A series of ferromagneticarticles to be turned 90 are moved by an inclined conveyor along alinear path over a deadplate and between two turning drums havingresilient peripheral surfaces shaped to conform to the curvature of thecontacted surfaces of the articles being turned. One of the drums isdriven at a higher speed than the other drum and has its axis ofrotation disposed forwardly of a plane which is perpendicular to thelinear path and has the axis of rotation of the other drum lying thereinthereby providing an angular space or gap between one end of the articlebeing turned and the next following article so that the resilientmaterial on the high-speed drum will enter the space. The discharge edgeof the deadplate is angled so as to be parallel to the partially turnedarticles causing both ends of each article to move off the deadplateonto the conveyor at the same time. A magnetic stabilizing conveyor ispositioned to grip one end of each article as the article completes itsturn.

18 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures SHEET 1 BF 4 PATENTED FEB 8 B72 F'IELJ.

INVENTOR. JAMES L. REINIERS ATTORNEYS PATENTED FEB 8872 3.640.375

sum 3 or 4 HIGH-SPEED ARTICLE-TURNING MECHANISM BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION l. Field of the Invention This invention relates to articleorienting mechanisms and more particularly relates to a high speed canturning mechanism for shifting cans received from a hydrostatic cookerbetween a position in axial alignment and a position wherein the cansare each supported on one end.

2. Description of Prior Art The present invention is an improvement overthe prior art devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,403,770 which issuedto Boyce et al. on Oct. 1, 1968 and US. Pat. No. 3,403,77l which issuedto Gardiner et al. on Oct. 1, 1968, both patents being assigned to theassignee of the present invention. These prior art devices include anendless feed containers for supporting a row of containers and movingthe contains between two turning drums driven at different speeds. Thedrums include resilient fingers on their peripheral surfaces whichengage and pivot the containers about 90 when they are moving at therate of about 600 to 1,000 cans per minute. When using these prior artdevices over long periods of time, it was discovered that since theturning of the containers occurred while the containers were supportedon the moving upper surface of the feed conveyor, that the amount ofturn was not the same for each container. This was attributed, in part,to the fact that the coefficient of friction of the surface of theconveyor varied considerably throughout the length of the conveyor. Itwas also attributed to the fact that fingers on the drums would notreliably grip the containers and, accordingly, some of the containerswould be given a greater turning moment than others. Thus, all of thecontainers were not turned the same amount and certain of the containerswould not reach the 90 position or would turn beyond the desired 90'position and would fall over on their sides.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The articletuming mechanism of the presentinvention moves the containers onto a deadplate having a low coefficientof friction prior to engaging the containers with the turning drums. Theaxis of the outside turning drum is positioned forwardly of the otherdrum relative to the direction of movement of the containers so that theadjacent end faces of the container being turned and the next followingcontainer will be spaced from each other at the outside of the turn andwill allow some of the resilient fingers of the outside drum to projectbetween these container faces. In order to insure a better grip upon thecontainers, both the outside and inside turning drums have concavecontainer-engaging surfaces which conform to the curvature of thecontainers. The discharge edge of the deadplate is angled so as to besubstantially parallel to the axis of the container being turned so thatboth ends of that container will move off the deadplate and onto theconveyor at the same time.

The mechanism also includes a cable transport conveyor and a magneticstabilizing conveyor. The stabilizing conveyor receives the turnedcontainers and magnetically attracts one end of the containers thuspreventing the containers from falling over on their sides in the eventthey are turned too much or too little.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a diagrammatic verticalcentral section of a hydrostatic cooker which employs the article tumingmechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top view of the turning mechanism taken looking inthe direction of arrows 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged section taken along lines 3--3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical section taken along lines 44 of FIG. 2illustrating the relationship of the feed conveyor, the cable transportconveyor, and the stabilizing conveyor.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged vertical section taken along lines 55 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged operational view in section taken along lines 6-6of FIG. 3 illustrating the manner in which the resilient turning drumfingers grip the containers, certain parts being cut away.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged section taken along lines 7-7 of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The high speed article-turningmechanism 20 (FIGS. 2 to 7) of the present invention is associated withthe discharge system of a hydrostatic cooker 22 (FIG. I) which isadapted to process ferromagnetic containers C such as cans. Althoughcontainers will be referred to hereinafter as the articles beinghandled, it will be understood that other ferromagnetic articles may behandled with the turning mechanism of the present invention.

As diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 1, the hydrostatic cooker 22includes a continuously driven conveyor 24 which has a plurality ofelongated carriers 26 each adapted to support a row or stick ofcontainers C that is about 7 feet long. The rows of containers aredeflected off an inlet conveyor 28 into the carriers 26 at a feedstation FS when the carriers are moving around a small diameter curvedportion 30 of the processing conveyor 24. The conveyor 24 carries therows of containers in the direction indicated by the arrows in FIG. Ithrough a water-filled inlet or preheating chamber 32, through asterilizing chamber 34 having steam therein at superatmosphericpressure, and through a water filled discharge or cooling chamber 36having cold water circulating therethrough. The rows of processedcontainers are then returned to the small diameter curved portion 30 andare gravitationally discharged at a discharge station DS onto aninclined conveyor 40 which forms part of the article-tuming mechanism 20of the present invention.

In general, the turning mechanism 20 comprises the inclined conveyor 40which advances the containers while supported on the cylindricalsurfaces of their chimes 41 onto a deadplate 42 and between an outerturning drum 44 and an inner turning drum 46. After turning thecontainers as indicated in FIGS. 2 and 6, the containers C gravitateagainst a cable transport conveyor 48 and a short magnetic stabilizingconveyor 50 which magnetically grips one end of each container therebystabilizing the containers. The cable transport conveyor 48 then stripsthe containers from the stabilizing conveyor 50 and moves them past atwister 52 and guide rails 54 which cooperate to shift the containers Cfrom an inclined position to an upright position.

More specifically, the inclined conveyor 40 includes an endless beltwhich is trained around a pair of rollers 56 (only one roller beingshown) and has its upper run 58 supported by a guide plate 60 (FIGS. 3and 5) that is connected to the frame 62 of the machine by brackets 64(FIG. 5). The roller 56 (FIG. 4) is keyed to a shaft 66journaled in theframe 62 and is driven by a right-angle gearbox 68 connected to a motor70 (FIGS. 2 and 5) by a chain drive 72. The upper run of the conveyor 40is driven in the direction of arrows A (FIG. 2) at the rate of betweenabout 200 to 350 feet per minute, preferably about 205 feet per minute,thereby handling about 500 to l,000 cans per minute when the cans are 4inches long.

The cable conveyor 48 is trained around several large diameter rollers74 (FIG. 2), and at least one small idler 76 and has its upper rundriven at about 290 feet per minute and in the same direction as theupper run of the conveyor 40 by drive means (not shown).

The magnetic stabilizing conveyor 50 comprises an endless belt 80 whichis trained around a pair of pulleys 82 journaled in the frame 62 so thatthe container contacting run 84 of the conveyor 50 is perpendicular tothe upper run of the inclined conveyor 40 and is in alignment with theupper run of the cable conveyor 48. A plurality of permanent magnets 86are connected to magnetic strips 88 and 90 (FIG. 5) which are in turnconnected to the frame 62 and are disposed immediately adjacent the run84 of the conveyor 50.. The run 84 of the conveyor 50 is driven at about230 feet per minute and in the same direction as the upper run of theconveyor 40 by a belt drive 92 (FIG. 2) connected to the shaft 94 of theinner turning drum 46.

As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the shaft 96 of the outer turning drum44 and the shaft 94 of the inner turning drum 46 are joumaled in aninclined plate 98 of the frame 62. The drums 44 and 46 are driven inopposite directions as indicated by the arrows B on FIG. 2 by a chaindrive 100. The chain drive 100 includes a chain 102 trained around adrive sprocket I04 keyed to the shaft 106 of the motor 70. The chain 102is also trained around idler sprockets 106 and 108 and around drivensprockets 110 and 112 that are keyed to the shafts 94 and 96respectively. When the linear speeds of the container contacting runs ofthe conveyors 40, 48 and 50 are driven at the rate of about 205, 290,and 230 feet per minute, respectively, and when the diameter of theturning drurns 44 and 46 are both inches, a peripheral speed of 205 feetper minute for the inner drum 46 and a peripheral speed of 345 feet perminute for the outer drum was found to be satisfactory when handlingcans discharged from the carriers 26 (FIG. 1) at the average rate ofabout 500 containers per minute.

As mentioned previously, in order to consistently turn each containeruniformly, it was determined that all containers while turning should besupported on a surface having a low coefficient of friction, and thatthe drums 44 and 46 should grip all containers with substantially thesame gripping force during turning.

Accordingly, the deadplate 42 is provided with a Teflon(polytetralluoroethylene) upper surface. Since the peripheral speed ofthe inner drum and the speed of the inclined conveyor 40 is the same, ithas been found that the containers are uniformly turned if they are inabutting contact as illustrated or if they are presented to the drum 44and 46 singly. The containers are guided onto the deadplate 42 by guiderails 116 and by a V-shaped inlet edge 118. The trailing edge 120 (FIG.2) of the deadplate 42 is angled so that both ends of the containers Cwill roll off the deadplate 42 at the same time, i.e., if the containersare cans both chimes 41 will partially slide and partially roll off thedeadplate 42 at the same time as indicated in FIG. 2.

An important feature of the invention is that the periphery of bothdrums 44 and 46 are concave and are provided with resilient containerengaging fingers 123. The outer drum 44 is curved so as to conform tothe curvature of the containers C and is positioned so as to grip thecontainers equally above and below the center line of the containers.The periphery of the inner drum 46 is likewise curved but is curved soas to engage only the upper portion of the containers thus firmlyholding the containers against the deadplate 42.

Another important feature of the invention is that the axis of theshafts 94 and 96 lie in a plane P (FIG. 6) which is angled forwardly bythe amount indicated by angle S, preferably about 2, from a plane P thatincludes the axis of the shaft 94 and is perpendicular to the path ofmovement of the containers C entering the deadplate 42. Thus, by virtueof the angle S, a gap G is formed in the outer portion of the foremostcontainer C-I thereby causing this portion of the container to becomespaced from the next following container C-2. The formation of the gap Gpermits some of the resilient fingers 123 of the outer drum 44 to enterthe gap G and accordingly these fingers will more firmly grip and propelthe container C-I as it is being turned. In this way each and everycontainer C is more uniformly gripped, and because of such uniformgripping plus the low coefficient of friction of the deadplate 42, thereis less chance of any of the containers being turned less than or inexcess of the desired 90.

It will also be noted that by angling the axis of the outer drum 44forwardly of the inner drum 46 all relative to the direction of movementof the containers C as above described, the containers are bodily turnedor aimed" in the direction of turn prior to being released by both drums44 and 46 thereby providing a propelling force, in addition to the forcedue to the higher speed of the drum 44, in the direction in which thecontainers are turned. Thus, this aiming of the containers aids the highspeed outer drum 44 in reliably gripping as well as propelling thecontainers toward the magnetic stabilizing conveyor 50.

In operation, rows of sticks of processed containers C are dischargedfrom the hydrostatic cooker 22 (FIG. 1) and are advanced by the conveyor40 (FIGS. 2 and 6) between the guide rails 116 and onto the deadplate42. The containers may either be in end-to-end contact or be advancedone at a time into engagement with the turning drums 44 and 46. Sincethe axis of rotation of the outer high speed turning drum 44 is angledforwardly of the axis of rotation of the inner drum 46, the foremostcontainer C-] is angled in the direction of turn causing a gap G tooccur between the adjacent end faces of the containers outwardly of theturn. This gap G permits some of the resilient fingers 123 of the outerdrum 44 to project between the containers C1 and C-2 thus firmlygripping the container C1 being turned. The concave curvature of theouter drum 44 also assures a firm turning grip on the container Cl whilethe downwardly directed concave surface of the inner drum 46 assuresthat the containers will be firmly pushed into contact with thedeadplate 42 which assures that the containers will not chatter. Thecontainers C are thus reliably turned so that both ends of eachcontainer will roll off the angled discharge edge 120 of the deadplate42 at the same time. The containers C then complete their turns and aremagnetically gripped against the stabilizing conveyor 50 prior to beingshifted to an upright position by the twister 52.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that the high speedarticle turning mechanism of the present invention maintains turningcontrol over the containers by receiving containers either singly or inend-to-end contact on a deadplate having a low coefficient of friction,and by aiming the containers to be turned in the direction of turn priorto release from the turning drums so that resilient fingers on theconcave peripheral surface of the outer high speed drum can move intothe gap between the containers. Turning control is also aided by theconcave periphery of the inner turning drum which peripheral surfaceengages only the upper portion of the containers being turned therebyurging the containers downwardly against the deadplate. After thecontainers have been released from the turning drums, inertia continuesto turn the containers so that the ends of each container roll off theangled discharge edge of the deadplate at the same time. The containersthen complete their turns and are engaged and stabilized by the magneticstabilizing conveyor.

Although the best mode contemplated for carrying out the presentinvention has been herein shown and described, it will be apparent thatmodification and variation may be made without departing from what isregarded to be the subject matter of the invention.

What I claim is:

I. A high speed article turning mechanism of the type comprising acontinuously driven inclined conveyor for moving a row of cylindricalarticles at high speed along a linear path, an outer turning drummounted for rotation about a first axis and having a resilientperipheral surface for engaging the articles, an inner turning drummounted for rotation about a second axis and having a resilientperipheral surface for engaging another portion of each article, saiddrums being over said inclined conveyor, means for driving said outerand inner turning drums with the outer drum being driven at a fasterperipheral speed than said inclined conveyor and said inner drum, and adriven discharge conveying means for receiving one end of each articleafter the article has been turned through an angle of about 90 and forremoving the articles from the turning mechanism; the improvementcomprising a dead plate over said inclined conveyor and under saiddrums, said deadplate receiving articles from said inclined conveyor andforming a turning station for the articles, said deadplate deliveringthe turned articles to said inclined conveyor, said deadplate having alower coefficient of friction than said inclined conveyor.

2. A high speed article turning mechanism according to claim 1 whereinthe peripheral surfaces of the outer and inner turning drums areconcave.

3. A high speed article turning mechanism according to claim 1 whereinthe deadplate includes a discharge edge which is angled in a directionparallel to the axis of each article as each article moves off saiddeadplate onto said inclined conveyor.

4. An article turning mechanism according to claim 1 wherein'saidresilient peripheral surface of said inner drum is concave and ispositioned to push the articles downwardly against said deadplate.

5. An article turning mechanism according to claim wherein saiddeadplate has a low coefficient of friction.

6. A high speed article-turning mechanism of the type comprising acontinuously driven inclined conveyor for moving a row of cylindricalarticles at high speed along a linear path, an outer turning drummounted for rotation about a first axis and having a resilientperipheral surface for engaging the articles at a turning station, aninner turning drum mounted for rotation about a second axis and having aresilient peripheral surface for engaging another portion of eacharticle at the turning station, means for driving said outer and innerturning drums with the outer drum being driven at a faster peripheralspeed than said conveyor and said inner drum, and driven dischargeconveying means for receiving one end of each article after the articlehas been turned through an angle about 90 and for removing the articlefrom the turning mechanism; the improvement wherein said first andsecond drum axes lie in a common plane which is angled such that saidfirst axis is disposed forwardly of a second plane that is perpendicularto said linear path and contains said second axis causing a gap to occurbetween the article being turned and the next following article intowhich some of the resilient material on the outer drum projects.

7. A high speed article-turning mechanism according to claim 6 whereinthe resilient peripheral surface of said outer drum is concave.

8. A high speed article-turning mechanism according to claim 7 whereinsaid peripheral surface includes resilient fingers, and wherein some ofsaid resilient fingers project into said gap to firmly engage and propelthe article during the turning operation.

9 A high speed article-turning mechanism according to claim 8 whereinthe peripheral surface of both the outer and inner drums includeresilient fingers.

10. A high speed article-turning mechanism according to claim 7 whereinthe article contacting resilient peripheral surface of said inner drumis concave.

11. A high speed article-turning mechanism of the type comprising acontinuously driven inclined conveyor for moving a row of ferromagneticcylindrical articles at high speed along a linear path, an outer turningdrum mounted for rotation about a first axis and having a concaveresilient peripheral surface for engaging the articles, an inner turningdrum mounted for rotation about a second axis and having a resilientperipheral surface for engaging another portion of the articles, andmeans for driving said outer and inner turning drums with the outer drumbeing driven at a faster peripheral speed than said conveyor and saidinner drum; the improvement comprising a deadplate disposed over saidinclined conveyor at a turning station for receiving articles therefrom,and a magnetic stabilizing conveyor positioned to receive one end ofeach article after the article has been turned through an angle of aboutsaid stabilizing conveyor having a container contacting run disposedadjacent the lower edge of said inclined conveyor and being driven inthe same direction and at substantially the same speed as said inclinedconveyor.

12. An article turning mechanism according to claim 11 wherein saidfirst and said second axis lie in a common plane, which plane is angledso that said first axis is disposed forwardly of a second plane that isperpendicular to said linear path and contains saidsecond axis.

. An article-turning mechanism according to claim 12 wherein thearticles are containers and wherein the forward position of said firstaxis relative to said second axis causes a gap to open between thoseportions of the container being turned and the next following containerwhich contact said concave peripheral resilient surface of said outerturning drum.

14. An article turning mechanism according to claim 13 wherein theresilient surface of said outer turning drum in cludes resilientfingers, and wherein some of said resilient fingers project into saidgap to firmly engage and propel the container during the turningoperation.

15. An article-turning mechanism according to claim 14 wherein saiddeadplate includes a discharge edge which is angled in a directionparallel to the axis of the containers as the containers move off saiddeadplate onto said inclined conveyor.

16. An article turning mechanism according to claim 14 wherein saidresilient peripheral surface of said inner drum is concave and includesradially extending resilient fingers which grip the containers.

17. An article-turning mechanism according to claim 11 wherein saiddeadplate includes a discharge edge which is angled in a directionparallel to the axis of each article as each article moves off saiddeadplate onto said inclined conveyor.

18. An article turning mechanism according to claim 11 which reliablyoperates at a speed of between about 500 to 1,000 containers per minute.

1. A high speed article turning mechanism of the type comprising acontinuously driven inclined conveyor for moving a row of cylindricalarticles at high speed along a linear path, an outer turning drummounted for rotation about a first axis and having a resilientperipheral surface for engaging the articles, an inner turning drummounted for rotation about a second axis and having a resilientperipheral surface for engaging another portion of each article, saiddrums being over said inclined conveyor, means for driving said outerand inner turning drums with the outer drum being driven at a fasterperipheral speed than said inclined conveyor and said inner drum, and adriven discharge conveying means for receiving one end of each articleafter the article has been turned through an angle of about 90* and forremoving the articles from the turning mechanism; the improvementcomprising a dead plate over said inclined conveyor and under saiddrums, said deadplate receiving articles from said inclined conveyor andforming a turning station for the articles, said deadplate deliveringthe turned articles to said inclined conveyor, said deadplate having alower coefficient of friction than said inclined conveyor.
 2. A highspeed article turning mechanism according to claim 1 wherein theperipheral surfaces of the outer and inner turning drums are concave. 3.A high speed article turning mechanism according to claim 1 wherein thedeadplate includes a discharge edge which is angled in a directionparallel to the axis of each article as each article moves off saiddeadplate onto said inclined conveyor.
 4. An article turning mechanismaccording to claim 1 wherein said resilient peripheral surface of saidinner drum is concave and is positioned to push the articles downwardlyagainst said deadplate.
 5. An article turning mechanism according toclaim 4 wherein said deadplate has a low coefficient of friction.
 6. Ahigh speed article-turning mechanism of the type comprising acontinuously driven inclined conveyor for moving a row of cylindricalarticles at high speed along a linear path, an outer turning drummounted for rotation about a first axis and having a resilientperipheral surface for engaging the articles at a turning station, aninner turning drum mounted for rotation about a second axis and having aresilient peripheral surface for engaging another portion of eacharticle at the turning station, means for driving said outer and innerturning drums with the outer drum being driven at a faster peripheralspeed than said conveyor and said inner drum, and driven dischargeconveying means for receiving one end of each article after the articlehas been turned through an angle about 90* and for removing the articlefrom the turning mechanism; the improvement wherein saiD first andsecond drum axes lie in a common plane which is angled such that saidfirst axis is disposed forwardly of a second plane that is perpendicularto said linear path and contains said second axis causing a gap to occurbetween the article being turned and the next following article intowhich some of the resilient material on the outer drum projects.
 7. Ahigh speed article-turning mechanism according to claim 6 wherein theresilient peripheral surface of said outer drum is concave.
 8. A highspeed article-turning mechanism according to claim 7 wherein saidperipheral surface includes resilient fingers, and wherein some of saidresilient fingers project into said gap to firmly engage and propel thearticle during the turning operation.
 9. A high speed article-turningmechanism according to claim 8 wherein the peripheral surface of boththe outer and inner drums include resilient fingers.
 10. A high speedarticle-turning mechanism according to claim 7 wherein the articlecontacting resilient peripheral surface of said inner drum is concave.11. A high speed article-turning mechanism of the type comprising acontinuously driven inclined conveyor for moving a row of ferromagneticcylindrical articles at high speed along a linear path, an outer turningdrum mounted for rotation about a first axis and having a concaveresilient peripheral surface for engaging the articles, an inner turningdrum mounted for rotation about a second axis and having a resilientperipheral surface for engaging another portion of the articles, andmeans for driving said outer and inner turning drums with the outer drumbeing driven at a faster peripheral speed than said conveyor and saidinner drum; the improvement comprising a deadplate disposed over saidinclined conveyor at a turning station for receiving articles therefrom,and a magnetic stabilizing conveyor positioned to receive one end ofeach article after the article has been turned through an angle of about90*, said stabilizing conveyor having a container contacting rundisposed adjacent the lower edge of said inclined conveyor and beingdriven in the same direction and at substantially the same speed as saidinclined conveyor.
 12. An article turning mechanism according to claim11 wherein said first and said second axis lie in a common plane, whichplane is angled so that said first axis is disposed forwardly of asecond plane that is perpendicular to said linear path and contains saidsecond axis.
 13. An article-turning mechanism according to claim 12wherein the articles are containers and wherein the forward position ofsaid first axis relative to said second axis causes a gap to openbetween those portions of the container being turned and the nextfollowing container which contact said concave peripheral resilientsurface of said outer turning drum.
 14. An article turning mechanismaccording to claim 13 wherein the resilient surface of said outerturning drum includes resilient fingers, and wherein some of saidresilient fingers project into said gap to firmly engage and propel thecontainer during the turning operation.
 15. An article-turning mechanismaccording to claim 14 wherein said deadplate includes a discharge edgewhich is angled in a direction parallel to the axis of the containers asthe containers move off said deadplate onto said inclined conveyor. 16.An article turning mechanism according to claim 14 wherein saidresilient peripheral surface of said inner drum is concave and includesradially extending resilient fingers which grip the containers.
 17. Anarticle-turning mechanism according to claim 11 wherein said deadplateincludes a discharge edge which is angled in a direction parallel to theaxis of each article as each article moves off said deadplate onto saidinclined conveyor.
 18. An article turning mechanism according to claim11 which reliably operates at a speed of between about 500 to 1,000containers per minute.